Quiz: Do You Complain Too Much?

“No one likes a complainer,” said an anonymous complainer. It’s hard to balance being a go-with-the-flow, resilient trooper and, well, being honest. Things kind of suck sometimes and something about saying so, out loud, feels so, so right. But complaining is kind of like peeing in the pool: it feels good for a minute, but it can ruin everyone else’s day. So how do you know if you’re whining too much? Here’s a quiz!

Your best friend just canceled your Friday night plans the day of to hang out with someone higher on the popularity food chain. Do you:

a. Immediately call a mutual friend and commiserate about what a social climber she is. Maybe post a facebook status about it. Not using any names, of course.

b. Tell her it’s no problem. Spend your night learning to play that banjo you asked your parents to get you for your birthday instead.

c. Tell her it made you sad. Vent a little to your friend from another school over IM.

d. How can an imaginary friend cancel on you?

That annoying guy in English class was trying to talk to you and then teach got YOU in trouble for it, but not him. Do you:

a. Call him out in front of the class. They need to know!

b. Apologize to your teacher right away. You must have been inviting it. Wait til band practice to make another peep and take out all your emotions then.

c. Speak to your teacher after class and politely make it clear that you had nothing to do with the disruption.

d. There are no classmates in homeschool!

After weeks of searching, you found the perfect prom dress. The. Perfect. Dress. However, when you asked your parents about it, they veto-ed it because it was too pricey. Do you:

a. Stomp off to your room and slam the door. Might be an overreaction, but this is PROM we’re talking about. PROM!

b. Apologize for asking in the first place. Book some banjo gigs to pay for it instead.

c. Tell them that you understand, but it’s hard to find dresses that make you feel that awesome. Offer to do some extra chores (whatever it takes!) if they’ll reconsider.

d. Who needs prom when you have fan fiction?

Does anyone have it worse than you?

a. No, no one.

b. Lots of people. Especially people who haven’t heard these sick banjo tunes.

c. Ugh, I guess so. But that doesn’t discount my feelings!

d. There are other people?

If you answered...

MOSTLY A’s:

Don’t hold me closer, whiny dancer. You’ve got an attitude problem. You’re great at expressing yourself but you could use a little perspective. You’ll have more luck getting people on your side if you state your complaints a little bit more nicely! And if you find a four leaf clover. But that's just a general luck tip.

MOSTLY B’s:

Wow! You take everything in stride. Maybe too much in stride. Because everyone else is striding all over you! You might need to stand up for yourself just a little bit more. On the bright side, sound like you’re in a pretty great bluegrass band.

MOSTLY C’s:

You strike a good balance between venting to feel better and keeping things civil. You’re careful with other people’s feelings while still sticking up for yourself. You channel your frustration into solutions. Okay, enough kissing your butt.

MOSTLY D’s:

You don’t complain too much, mostly because you don’t talk to other people enough. Go outside. Find another human.